Epithelial cell death plays a critical role in hyperoxia-induced lung injury. We investigated the involvement of the autophagic marker microtubule-associated protein-1 light chain-3B (LC3B) in epithelial cell apoptosis after hyperoxia. Prolonged hyperoxia (>95% O(2)), which causes characteristic lung injury in mice, activated morphological and biochemical markers of autophagy. Hyperoxia induced the time-dependent expression and conversion of LC3B-I to LC3B-II in mouse lung in vivo and in cultured epithelial cells (Beas-2B, human bronchial epithelial cells) in vitro. Hyperoxia increased autophagosome formation in Beas-2B cells, as evidenced by electron microscopy and increased GFP-LC3 puncta. The augmented LC3B level after hyperoxia was transcriptionally regulated and dependent in part on the c-Jun N-terminal kinase pathway. We hypothesized that LC3B plays a regulatory role in hyperoxia-induced epithelial apoptosis. LC3B siRNA promoted hyperoxia-induced cell death in epithelial cells, whereas overexpression of LC3B conferred cytoprotection after hyperoxia. The autophagic protein LC3B cross-regulated the Fas apoptotic pathway by physically interacting with the components of death-inducing signaling complex. This interaction was mediated by caveolin-1 tyrosine 14, which is a known target of phosphorylation induced by hyperoxia. Taken together, hyperoxia-induced LC3B activation regulates the Fas apoptotic pathway and thus confers cytoprotection in lung epithelial cells. The interaction of LC3B and Fas pathways requires cav-1.